After an exciting race once again, ACE driver Pashalis Gergis went around the paddock to grab a few interviews, we have some veterans a rookie and a team principal, let’s watch what they had to say!
John-Eric Saxén (Finland) - Avid Chronic Racing
First off we start with an FSR veteran, John-Eric Saxén has managed to score points in every race this season, giving valuable points to Avid Chronic Racing, surely his experience has helped him!
How has your season been until now? you've been regularly in the points, having your P5 in Bahrain as the best result in 2015.
- I was a bit skeptical before the season, I didn't have the motivation and time to do lots of testing as in some previous seasons, and knowing my struggles to adapt to rF2 tires last season I felt like an old dog in the wrong series with all these new kids. Somehow with this year's car I found a better feeling on Melbourne race day and since then it has been one of the best season starts for me with the least amount of testing. Could be worse I guess.
In several occasions you climbed up the standings due to post-race checks penalties, managing always to stay out of trouble, is that one of the reasons that you managed to ghet points in all 4 rounds until now? Do you think you could have been even better? What are your thoughts.
- I was a bit lucky indeed with certain post-race checks and incidents, but then again it's something every driver on this level should be aware of, cutting etc. My climbing in the races is simply due to poor qualifying, I need to go back to 2008 to study my qualifying laps when I was at least in the top 6 quite often. Must be the age...
Being one of the most experienced drivers in FSR, being in a new team like ACR in their 2nd year surely has been valuable for the rest of the drivers. What is your role to the other newer drivers? Has your experience helped them, and if so, how?
- Experience always helps with small details, mainly of course with setting up the car. That has surely helped some drivers, although setups are generally a bit overrated in FSR. I feel every driver should ideally build his own setup to best suit his driving style. But surely there is collaboration going on and it could be even more fruitful, with some sort of driving academy etc. The thoughts have been in my mind many times but not yet realized.
Before closing, what is your target for this season? Can you keep up bringing every weekend valuable points for the team?
- I hope to drive for the podium at least a few times, it was already close at Bahrain had it not been for the qualifying...
Jim Parisis (Greece) - Twister Racing
Next one is Jim Parisis! Jim managed to get a very strong P2 despite having an adequate qualifying were he earned the 3rd row and the 5th spot on the grid.
After a not so good qualifying, if a P5 can be described as that, you really picked up your pace and managed to get a very solid P2, would you have any better luck if you started in a better position?
- You always have a better chance when you start in a better position. I failed in Q2 this time and I'm making sure this will not happen again.
After 2 wins a row and a P2, I remember asking you after round 2 regarding your individual targets for 2015 but you refused to give a specific answer to that but I can't help myself not to ask you again, do you feel you can compete for the top spot in World Championship throughout the season?
- As I've said before, I'm taking this step by step, race by race. If I will get those steps right, I don't see any reason not to be there fighting for that.
Apart from your team that looks dominant so far, are there any particular drivers that could potentially be a threat for you and your team? Have you spotted any?
- After 4 races, Kuba is the driver that feels inthis answer for me. He has made nice and clean races, with some good podium finishes. He will always be there fighting with us. Also Ghostspeed have shown us in Bahrain that they made a step forward, it is great to see that, we will have nice battles and that's always fun.
What are your expectations for Canada, is that a track you enjoy driving at? Should we expect you to be right up there for the win again?
- Canada is a track that somehow I get good results, wihout being one of my favorite tracks. Let's see if this tradition will continue this Sunday.
Kuba Brzeziński (Poland) - Origin Front Row
Onto the next driver, Kuba Brzezinski returned to the podium after the Australia GP were he got P2 in his debut. In Sakhir, he finished in P3 after having an -exciting to watch- battle with Muhammed Patel, he surely fought hard to get this well-earned podium!
How was you Bahrain race, you really had to fight a lot for that 3rd spot!
- Bahrain qualy was very solid, my first sector could have been better, but at the end it wouldn't have changed anything in the race. The moment I saw Petar's pace I knew there was no chance, so I focused on the guys behind. Everyone was really close together so keeping track position was crucial. After that penalty in China I promised my guys I would get on the podium in Bahrain so when I saw Muhammed had had a drive through I knew that was my chance. I kept looking at all those drivers close behind us so I knew that if we were to mess up we would loose a lot of places, but I was determined to get on that podium. At the end the fight was hard but fair and I really enjoyed it
Would you like yourself to be higher in the standings or you left whatever you had on track?
- Obviously I would like to be leading the championship but we're nowhere near fast enough and we at the moment I'm trying to be very consistent to capitalise on Twister's mistakes. The penalty in China really hurt us, because we lost 6pts there, but it was my own fault and I'm gonna make sure it won't happen again.
What has been the key to your success? Don't forget you are one of the rookies in World Championship, however it does not look like it, you have been fighting with many top-tier drivers and you really hard to earn yourself those solid results.
- There are many factors. I got used to rfactor2 really quickly and I feel very comfortable with the mod in most areas (not all of them though). And of course OFR and ACR are working hard on the setups which is a great help and I'd be nowhere near the podium without them.
What should you and your teammate Dan Brewer focus on in order to reach your expectations? Do you think Twister is beatable as individuals or a team? What should any team do to beat them?
- We should just be faster heh. We can match them in qualifying but for some reason we lack the pace in race trim. Dan's race pace is very good, but he struggles to put a good lap in in qualifying. He's gonna be strong if he can get a good track position. We showed that we can beat individual Twister drivers and capitalise on their mistakes but with the pace we've got at the moment Twister is not beatable as a team. And what the team's need to do to beat them? Have amazing drivers who can make great setups.
Carlos Martín (Spain) - Trines Netrex
Last but not least, Carlos Martin failed to score any points for Netrex after having an engine failure with only a few laps to go, engine failures have been an issue for several drivers, none can forget how Muhammed Patel lost the win in China in the last lap due to a similar issue!
Your Bahrain race ended in a dramatic fashion, having a blown engine with only a few laps to go, what happened there?
- We had a very strong race in Bahrein, being all race in traffic isn't ideal to show the potential we had. Plan was to attack on last stint, I had very low top speed, so defending on worn tires would have been critical. Engine blew because we used a very aggressive Engine Brake Map plus the fact we have been on dirty air during all race. At least the race was funny, just shame we lost a good amount of points.
How was your season till now, I'm sure you'd like to be a bit higher in the standings!
- Standings are not important at this moment, good races will come for us, we just need to work with the car and be there when the opportunity shows up. It's true that you always like to be on the top of standings, but at this moment with our performance, isn't posible.
We've been hearing that you are racing with a broken arm, how has that affected your driving? Are there any limitations and if so, when do you expect to have your hand fully recovered?
- It's obvious that from a physical point of view, driving with one hand isn't very precise, braking in that aspect is the most difficult part. Can you imagine braking one handed? Tough, but as long as you practice is almost racing like 2 hands. It was very difficult to decide racing one handed, mentally, is very shocking. When I start testing, I'm always 3 sec slower than the pace, which is very frustrating, so you need to clear your mind and keep testing.At this moment I don't have cast, but as I barely move my wrist I still don't use 2 hands, for the hairpin at Canada I may use it as its a very slow corner and not very demanding.
I will be totally recovered for Silverstone.
You had a very solid p3 in canada last year, is that a result you're aiming for this time around?
- Last year was a very special race. As I said before, good races and opportunities shows up sometimes and last year at Montreal was like this. I started last position due a penalty and we did a very strong race. I was P7 when all Twister team brakes started to fail. Bono also had a disconnection. As I stated before, now the target is to improve the car behavior, let's hope we can confirm this step.
A 6th or 7th place should be the target, for now.
Thanks for the interview Pashalis, good luck in Ace!!
Kristopher Cobb (United States) - Avid Chronic Racing
The team principal Pashalis chose to interview this week was Kris Cobb! The newly elected FSR president had some interesting things to tell regarding his team, which has shown great improvement compared to their Rookie year in 2014.
ACR looks very different comparing to last year's crew, what were the new faces, let us know about them.
- We have alot of new faces this year. I am impressed with Michi Hoyer and Pashalis Gergis, both are top drivers in ACE. In PRO, we have what I call "Team David" with David O'Reilly and David Cook, both have the potential for top 10 finishes. We also moved a Test Driver, Pascal Chapon to our PRO Team.
Are you satisfied with your results of your team in both of the 3 FSR divisions? The team runs for the 2nd year and I'm sure the expectations have raised this year, is that true?
- I can't say I am satisfied with the results but I am impresses with the potential the team has. We have 4 drivers in PRO that can get top 10 finishes. Michi and Pashalis can fight for the ACE Title with Teemu Valkeejarvi having top 10 finishes and Dominic Renting should be up there once he gets up to speed. John-Eric Saxen returns with us this season and I think he has more potential than his results have shown.
Many have been impressed with the effors of some of your drivers, there have been some regular point-finishings in WC, ACE drivers even got a 1-2 before being awarded penalties in the post race checks, and in PRO, there have been some very solid results too? What has changed comparing to last year's team that brought those good results?
- More mixed results, but positive when we get things right. PRO Drivers have struggled with finishing, not really their fault though. ACE we have alot of potential to fight for a title with both teams. In WC I think we missed some strategy calls that could have got John-Eric on the podium, but it is nice seeing points every race. Well last year was a team building year. I wasn't worried about results as I was finding people who can work together. This year I took a different approach. We were able to sign Michi Hoyer early, and he advised to sign Pashalis Gergis and later Dominic Renting. Most of our guys are competent when it comes to setting up the car, so that helps.
What are your targets as ACR this year in WC, ACE and PRO accordingly? Do you think the team has peaked or there's more to come from you?
- In PRO I would like to see consistent top 10's from everyone. I think this is possible. In ACE, I think we can fight for the title. In WC, I think John-Eric has the ability to get a few podiums this year. I think the year has shown potential, but we have alot of work to do. I don't think we have peaked and will see alot more from our guys in the races to come.
We hope you enjoyed those interviews as any we've done this season! We'll see you in Montreal this weekend!
*Thanks to all the FSR Media Group (Alessio Campus, David O'Reilly) for their assistance once again.
'23 Champion Jernej Simoncic
PRO Champion Victor Ivanov
ACA Champion Thomas Smit
